 
Late Neolithic II dates
between 4800-4500 BC and is also known as Dimini culture, since in the
archaeological remains of Dimini at Volos, all aspects characterizing
the culture of Thessaly during this period are fully recorded.
Densely built settlements of the Late Neolithic I, mainly situated in the plains, were inhabited without interruption. They consisted of large buildings, rectangular and megaroiod made from stone (Dimini), but also timber-post framed dwellings (Mandalo). In isolated cases megaroiod buildings predominated in the settlement (Sesklo). Many settlements were surrounded, as in the previous phase, by ditches 4-6 metres wide and 1,5-3,5 metres deep (Otzaki, Makriyialos) or stone enclosures 1,5-1,7 metres high (Sesklo, Dimini). The purpose of these constructions was either to defend against wild animals or to demarcate the limits of the settlement and thus protect their goods. Such goods were the result of communal work, which could only have been implemented with the co-ordination and supervision of the ablest of the community. The number of community members reached 100-300 individuals. |
To the mixed farming and stock-rearing economy, specialized pottery production
(workshop of incised pottery at Dimini), the manufacture of jewellery
from Spondylus sea-shell (Dimini), and also of leaf-shaped arrow heads
from Melian obsidian (southern Aegean) were additional activities. The
distribution of objects, such as arrow heads in settlements of Macedonia, jewellery
from Spondylus in the Balkans and central Europe, as well as ring idol
pendants, indicate the development of many local and more extensive exhange
networks and an intensification in navigation. In the framework of
these contacts metals
for jewellery making, such as beads of silver and copper (Sitagroi, Dikili
Tash, Demetra) were acquired. These exchangeable products seem to have
been owned by a minority and were regarded as objects of social prestige.
Burial customs consisted, as in previous phases, of burying the dead in simple pits, in contracted (foetal) or flexed position. At the same time burials of children in jars were carried out, while the cremation of the dead and the collection of bones continued. Pottery production, especially of the Dimini phases in Thessaly, known as Ayia Sophia, Otzaki and Classical Dimini, presented a continuity from previous phases. Painted (black on a whitish background) and incised pottery of Classical Dimini was the culmination of the art of Neolithic pottery. Among decorative motifs, the spiral and the checkboard pattern predominated, while incised pottery used decorative motifs both from weaving and basketry. Finally, the human figure was rendered exceptionally schematic, as is manifest from the plank-shaped and cruciform figurines. |